Recipes of the week: Summer Salsas and Blackened Snapper on the Grill

This is
the time when all the freshest ingredients are available locally.
Visit your favorite farmer's market and find some ingredients to
make a salsa, the perfect accompaniment to grilled meat and
fish.

These
recipes, and many more, are available in my cookbook, Barbecue
Secrets DELUXE!, available in bookstores and as an
e-book from the Apple Store.

Black Bean and Grilled Corn Salsa

This
salsa is great on grilled fish, but it also stands up on its own as
a dip.

Prepare
your grill for direct high heat. Grill the corn until the kernels
turn a bright yellow and there’s some nice charring. Remove the
cobs from the grill and let them cool long enough so you can handle
them. Cut the corn from the cobs with a sharp chef’s knife or a
mandoline.

Combine
all the ingredients, except the avocado and chips, in a bowl. Cover
and chill the mixture for at least two hours. Dice the avocado and
add it just before serving the salsa with the chips.

Chimichurri

Makes
about three cups | 750 mL

This is
the classic Argentine condiment. It takes various forms, some
finer, like a pesto, and some, like this one, chunkier, like a
salsa. Chimichurri goes well with almost anything grilled, planked,
or barbecued, but I like it best on lamb. Make it at least a day
before you’re going to use it to let the flavors come
alive.

Combine all the ingredients except the oil, vinegar, and water in a
large bowl and toss them well to make sure the salt is spread
evenly throughout. Allow the sauce to rest for 30 minutes to allow
the salt to dissolve and the flavors to blend.
Add the oil, vinegar, and water and mix the sauce well. Make sure
that the chimichurri looks nice and wet, like a very thick
gazpacho. If not, add equal parts oil, water, and vinegar until the
mixture is covered by at least a quarter inch of liquid.
Transfer the sauce to a non-reactive storage container. Cover it
and refrigerate it to allow the flavors to blend overnight. It’s
even better after two or three days in the refrigerator.

Peach and Blackberry Salsa

Makes
about 3 cups | 750 mL

This
salsa, invented by my wife, Kate, is something you should try only
when these fruits are at their peak, which on the West Coast of
Canada is in August. Paired with planked chicken, it’s a
mind-blower.

Combine
all the ingredients in a bowl. Let the salsa stand, covered, in the
fridge for about an hour.

Blackened Snapper on the Grill

Makes 4
servings

If
you’ve ever tried to cook this delicious, spectacular dish indoors,
you’ll know it’s a bit of a nightmare. It was invented by the great
New Orleans chef, Paul Prudhomme, and was designed to be cooked in
a restaurant kitchen where there is industrial-strength
ventilation. The combination of butter and an extremely hot pan
creates so much white smoke that you may not be able to see your
fellow diners by the time the dish is ready to serve. I actually
had to crawl from the kitchen into the dining room one time just so
I could see where I was going. Cooking this dish takes a special
technique that uses a gas grill to preheat cast iron pans to create
the same effect as chef Paul’s restaurant kitchen. Don’t cook this
dish if you’re worried about smoking out your neighbors!

Warm
four serving plates and four small ramekins in a low
oven.
Prepare your gas grill (sorry, charcoal grills just don’t generate
enough heat for this recipe) for direct high heat. Place two cast
iron skillets on the cooking grate with their handles pointed away
from you. Let the pans heat up in the grill for at least 10
minutes, until they are extremely hot.
While the pans are heating, melt the butter in a sauté pan until it
is just melted. Turn off the heat but leave the pan on the stovetop
to keep warm.
Dip the snapper fillets in the melted butter and sprinkle them
generously on both sides with the rub mixture. Drizzle a little of
the remaining butter over the rubbed fillets.
Open the grill and quickly place the fillets in the pans. This will
cause a lot of white smoke and the butter may flame up, so be
careful. Cover the grill and cook the fish for just a couple of
minutes. Carefully and quickly turn the fillets over with a long
spatula and cook them for another minute or two, until the outside
of the fish is nicely blackened.
Put on some oven mitts, just in case you grab a pan handle by
mistake. With your spatula, remove the fillets from the pans and
place them on the serving dishes. Transfer the remaining butter
into the warmed ramekins. Serve the snapper immediately, with the
ramekins of butter for dipping.

Cajun Rub

Makes
about a half cup of rub.

I’ve
featured this rub in the recipe for Blackened Snapper on the Grill
(see page xxx), but it’s a great all-around grilling or blackening
rub that showcases the classic flavors of Cajun cooking.